CHEILANTHES VESTITA.— HAIRY LIP-FERN. 99 
we thus have an illustration of a rule in botanical nomenclature, 
that when a botanist discovers that a plant belongs to a different 
genus from the one in which it has been placed, and has the right 
to make a new name for it if it be a new genus, the adjective or 
specific name belongs of right to him also. 
Fora long time the Hairy Lip-fern was the only known species 
of our country, but of late years several others have been dis- 
covered, both in the eastern and western portions of the United 
States, 
This fern is very variable in its growth in different locations, 
and the collector may often be inclined to look on his collections 
as new species. In Mr. Williamson’s “Ferns of Kentucky” is a 
cut of the prevailing form in that State which shows a much more 
elongated and narrower frond than ours. On the Pacific coast 
some are found witha close relation to ours, but Professor Eaton 
decides these to be specifically distinct. In the sixth volume of 
the “Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club” he shows particu- 
larly how the C. Coofere of California differs from our present 
species in the hairs being tipped with a glandular enlargement. 
It would be well for those who may have the opportunity of 
noticing the species described here to observe whether among 
the variations to which it is known to be subjected there is in 
any localities a tendency towards this peculiarity. Mr. William- 
son in his “Ferns of Kentucky” notes that the hairs in our spe- 
cies are flattened as seen under a microscope, a form of hair 
not often found in plants. 
As already stated, Ferns have a wide geographical range, some 
extending to the extreme north, and others favoring the tropics; 
but distinct classes incline to have their own separate centres, 
and in this relation the species of the genus Chev/anthes seem to 
be departures from a southern rather than a northern home. 
The Hairy Lip-fern, now illustrated, is the most northern of all 
that grow along the Atlantic sea-board states. Professor 
Gray says in his “Manual,” that it is found in the clefts of 
rocks on New York island, where it was found by Mr. W. 
